Summer 2013

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. (Henry IV, Part 2) Of his ten histories, the four interrelated plays forming the second tetralogy are among Shakespeare’s greatest theatrical achievements. These works, which deal with the period of 1400 to 1420, include Richard II, Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, and Henry V. […]

Using a facing-page translation, we will deal with the climax of Dante’s Divine Comedy. While Inferno depicts sin and evil, and Purgatorio portrays redemption, Paradiso illustrates the possibility of transcendence. Not only does a blessed soul understand the transcendent universe, but that person also transcends her or his fallen human nature. In this seminar we […]

Join anthropologist/classical archaeologist David Soren in a survey of the art and archaeology of ancient Rome. This course will highlight the major wonders of the Roman world from the 8th century B.C. to the 6th century A.D., including the historical truth behind Rome’s alleged founders Romulus and Remus, the frightening demonology of the Etruscans, the […]

What’s the value of a good argument? That question is not merely rhetorical. For the sake of argument, we will reassess the classical opposition of rhetoric and philosophy that was first established by Plato. Ironically, it was not Socrates’s student but a student of the Sophists who founded the humanities upon a skepticism about received […]

Contemporary Russia continues to search for a post-Soviet national identity: what Russians refer to as their country’s “national idea.” The return to the presidency of Vladimir Putin signifies that the country’s most historically significant leader since Stalin reassumes the decisive role as Russia continues to wrestle with its identity, sociopolitical goals, and position in the […]

Our global environmental problems need attention from almost all legal disciplines, including constitutional law, property law, natural resources regulation, and international and comparative law. This timely class presents core issues in environmental law – broadly construed — based on cutting-edge research by faculty at the College of Law. The issues are: how environmental law can […]